PATENTS... THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

TO PATENT OR NOT TO PATENT

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Strictly speaking, you do not need a patent to develop and release a product. However, without patent protection you run two major risks. First, someone else could acquire the legal rights to your idea or its underlying technology. Second, if your goal is to license, sell or raise investment, you will find it almost impossible to succeed without a patent in place. Manufacturers and investors demand the legal exclusivity that a patent provides before they will trade with you.

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A patent is not always an absolute requirement, but it is a strategic tool. It safeguards your intellectual property, strengthens negotiations, enables collaborations and increases credibility in a competitive market.

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PATENTS ARE A SWORD, NOT A SHIELD

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A common misconception is that filing a patent gives you absolute protection. It does not. A patent should be viewed as a sword, not a shield. It does not automatically stop others from infringing, but it does establish rightful ownership and gives you the authority to take legal action against those who copy or misuse your technology.

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PATENT INFRINGEMENT

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Patent litigation is prohibitively expensive, often running into hundreds of thousands of pounds. For most inventors, this makes enforcing their rights impractical. Instead of focusing on fighting infringement after the fact, your strategy should be to minimise the opportunities for infringement in the first place. This means securing strong, commercially valuable protection that covers the aspects of your invention with genuine market potential.

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LEGAL EXPENSE COVER

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The cost of prosecuting or defending intellectual property rights in court can exceed £350,000. Those with deep pockets have the upper hand, leaving small inventors and startups at a disadvantage.

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Intellectual Property Insurance can level the playing field. It covers the legal costs of taking action or defending against infringement claims up to the policy limits. This kind of cover is increasingly central to effective IP management and policies are available to independent inventors, startups, SMEs and large corporations alike.

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FILING A PATENT AND DOING NOTHING

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Many inventors make the mistake of filing a patent and then sitting back, doing nothing. While this can sometimes serve as a deliberate tactic, in most cases it is a waste of money. If you are not prepared to actively develop, promote or commercialise your invention, filing a patent achieves little other than congesting the Patent Office. In such cases, it is often better to save your money rather than file prematurely.

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YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS

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If your plan is to sell, license or raise investment using your patent, you will face scrutiny. A patent attorney on the other side will examine your filing for weaknesses, loopholes or ways around it. If they find any, the deal will collapse or the terms will swing heavily against you.

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No serious manufacturer or investor will purchase or license intellectual property unless it is defensible and clearly safeguards their interests. This means your patent must be supported by a well-developed product, a precise specification and a commercially robust strategy.

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HOPING FOR A KNOCK AT THE DOOR

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Once your patent is published, do not expect licensees, buyers or investors to come knocking. It does not happen. To monetise a patent, you must be proactive. You need to initiate discussions, promote your invention and actively pursue opportunities. Without a hands-on, committed approach, your patent will sit idle and generate no financial return.

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“I JUST WANT TO SELL MY IDEA”

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If anyone tells you that you can simply sell or license your idea, they are lying. Manufacturers rarely invest in raw ideas. They want proven, developed products with commercial traction. If you have done none of the development work, what you are really asking is for a manufacturer to do it for you – and they will not.

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Commercialisation almost always creates new technical content not covered in your original patent. Whoever funds or carries out that development will then want ownership of the resulting intellectual property. This often leads to ownership conflicts that are difficult, and sometimes impossible, to resolve.

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LICENSES, PATENTS AND LEGAL STRATEGY

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Intellectual property protection is not a silver bullet. A patent alone will not make a product successful, nor will it prevent others from infringing. IP must be paired with a credible commercialisation strategy. Inventors who file patents and do nothing else risk wasting money and creating a false sense of security. Legal advice, strategic patent coverage, and careful management of IP rights are fundamental to protecting your invention and enabling licensing or sales opportunities.